Rameshvara Temple, Koodli

The Rameshvara temple, a 12th-century Shiva temple, stands at Koodli, also spelt Kudli, about 18 km north-east of Shimoga in Karnataka. The village's name reflects its setting where the Tunga and Bhadra rivers meet to become the Tungabhadra. Koodli was a major town until the 14th century and holds ruins of more than eight temples and monasteries, and finds show the area was lived in from Palaeolithic times. The temple is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India as a monument of national importance.

An early Hoysala building in a simpler, unornamented Vesara style, it is made of soapstone and has a single shrine and tower. Three porches, to the north, south and east, each carried on four lathe-turned pillars, lead into a closed hall, where a carved Nandi faces the sanctum and its linga. The outer walls are plain apart from slender pilasters, and the vestibule tower bears the Hoysala emblem of a warrior stabbing a lion.